


Stars

by flamingsky



Category: Panic! at the Disco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 01:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4161078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamingsky/pseuds/flamingsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A night on tour with Panic! At The Disco way back in 2006</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something that I imagine could have happened, and it's not meant to be a literal account. Enjoy!

“Thank you, and good night!”

Brendon bowed towards the audience one last time, sweat running down his face as the bright stage lights obscured most of the crowd from his sight. Breathing heavily, he looked at his bandmates and smiled at them proudly, the ear-shattering applause and shouting filling him with a euphoric high as he walked off the stage and into the dressing room. He could still hear the fans cheering outside, screaming for the band to come out again. Wiping the sweat from his face with a towel, he grabbed a water bottle from Zack’s hand and twisted the cap off eagerly. Around him, Ryan, Jon, and Spencer were all in the process of removing the monitors from their ears, looking equal parts exhausted and energized.

“I’d say that wasn’t half bad,” Ryan commented, a satisfied smile on his face as he began to undo the buttons on his vest, skillfully maneuvering around the roses which obscured part of them. Jon shook his head at the understatement, taking a few gulps of cool water. Brendon threw off his sweat-soaked shirt and, hoping to find his deodorant, looked along the counter, which was strewn with half-finished water bottles, capri suns, and food wrappers.

“Hey, Bren, can you throw me mine too?” Spencer asked, his hair sticking up all around him and cheeks flushed. After a few seconds of searching, Brendon successfully found both of their deodorants hidden behind a chips bag and handed Spencer’s to him before applying his own. He wished that the venue had a shower, but decided to make do with the sink in the corner and a towel as he washed his torso, splashing water over his heated skin. The screams outside had subsided and Zack stuck his head into the dressing room, an amused expression on his face.

“You might want to get out there soon; I’ve managed to stop the screaming, but the fangirls are probably going to start climbing the fence soon if you take too much longer. You know how they are,” he added with an incredulous chuckle. The band nodded their heads and finished changing into their clean clothes, steeling themselves for the inevitable screeches of their fans. They loved connecting with their fans, but it could get overwhelming, especially when people would yell things like, “I want you to fuck me!” at them. Brendon smiled at his friends, hastily combing his still-wet hair into place.

“Ready?”

Armed with a Sharpie each, they made their way down the hall to the back of the venue, following Zack as the sounds of excitement outside grew louder. As he stepped outside, Brendon was hit by a wave of screams as he looked over the small crowd that had gathered around the fence which encircled the stage door and tour bus. A smile overtook his face as he made his way towards the fans, who were holding various pieces of merchandise ready to be signed and were snapping photos on their camera phones. After about 45 minutes of signing, posing for pictures, answering questions, and accepting small gifts from heavily-eyelinered girls and the occasional boy, the bandmates finally reached the last fan and breathed a collective sigh of relief, heading back inside to recover from the extensive contact. Ryan in particular always had a hard time with interacting with a lot of people, and Brendon slung an arm around him shoulder to comfort him as they returned to the dressing room, a gesture that Ryan leaned into with gratitude.

“Hey, guys, bad news,” Zack said, entering the room and sliding his phone into his pocket.

“The bus is having some problems and our driver is trying to track down a mechanic to check things out, but since it’s so late it might take some time, so we’re gonna have to hang tight for a while. I guess just play some games or something until we hear back from him.” The boys looked at each other and immediately turned to Jon, who was known to bring his deck of Uno cards with him. With a grin, he walked over to his bag and extracted the game with a flourish. Ryan grabbed a small table that sat in the corner and arranged four chairs around it. They played for about half an hour until Jon decided that Spencer’s winning streak meant he must be cheating and began interrogating him about it. Spencer shot Ryan and Brendon a mischievous smile as they got up before turning back to Jon with a faux-earnest expression. They just rolled their eyes at him and decided to explore more of the venue, hoping to track down an adventure.

After they had made their way through every hallway, up and down several staircases, and even back onstage for a little while, where they entertained the cleaning crew with some impromptu covers of Disney songs, they were bored again.

“I think there’s a park or something like two blocks away,” Ryan offered, breaking the contemplative silence they had fallen into as he remembered the view he had seen from the bus. Brendon agreed that they should check it out and hoped they could convince Zack to let them go. They found him outside of the dressing room telling a technician about the hair-in-cookie incident with a lot of laughter. He was about to drop the plot twist, and Brendon decided this was the best moment to ask, since Zack would probably want to get back to the story quickly. Zack looked at the two of them earnestly for a moment, making them promise five times to keep their Sidekicks on and to immediately come back if anything sketchy or dangerous came up. They nodded their heads obediently and set off immediately after Brendon grabbed his pastel hoodie out of the dressing room, where Jon and Spencer had decided to build a sculpture out of the empty bottles and wrappers.

The air was slightly cool now that the sun had set, and they walked quickly, not saying much as they passed darkened storefronts. When they reached the park they both immediately headed towards the swing set, where they gently swung back and forth and laughed about the “Jonish Inquisition” as they had decided to call it.

“But really, Spence can be pretty sneaky when it comes to games. He’s been that way since we were little,” Ryan shared, smiling at the memory. Brendon smiled in return and looked forward again at the open field he had been eyeing for a while now.

“Wanna see if we can see any stars from here?” he asked Ryan, noting that the center of the field was pretty dark since not of the surrounding lights reached it. Ryan shrugged and stood to show his agreement to the idea. They walked across the grass and looked up once they reached the middle of the field. Brendon heard Ryan gasp softly in amazement and was himself awed at the view. It was nothing compared to what the desert sky could offer, but Brendon let himself lie on the ground regardless so that he could look more comfortably. Ryan joined him and they lay there just looking up for a few minutes.

“I know that it’s bad since we have to play another show tomorrow, but I’m really glad the bus needs work. It’s been a while since we’ve had time to just goof off and breathe, y’know?” Ryan admitted, sighing contentedly. Brendon agreed with a mumble, feeling his exhaustion slowly begin to set in after a long day. Although he loved the attention and wouldn’t trade this life for anything, he needed some time to recharge. He was glad that Ryan wasn’t always needing to talk and that they could just sit in silence without being awkward. They were good that way, and he was thankful that the whole band generally always worked well together.

“It’s crazy how much can happen in a year,” he volunteered, remembering how they’d gone from meeting Pete Wentz to playing festivals and touring with countless sold-out shows and thousands of fans. Ryan nodded beside him, and went on to think aloud.

“I wonder how long we’re gonna be doing this. The touring, meeting fans, making music... All of it.”

“Well, Ryan Ross, I don’t know about you, but I plan on doing this forever and ever,” Brendon replied with a chuckle at his (slight) hyperbole. He scooted over to put his head on Ryan’s chest and a hand across his stomach, cuddling into him for both warmth and comfort. Ryan put an arm around him to hold him closer and Brendon continued.

“But seriously, I think we’re gonna last a really long time. You, me, Spence, and Jon are like a dream team, an unstoppable force, the best thing since Third Eye Blind. Okay, maybe not quite that, but what I mean is, I don’t think we have to really worry about that for a long time.”

  
Ryan smiled at Brendon’s words just as his phone started buzzing in his pocket. They both sighed in slight disappointment when they saw it was Zack calling and squeezed each other close one more time before Ryan picked up. They walked back towards the venue with great dreams of their future in their heads.


End file.
